[QUOTE]Subaru is the latest automaker to announce ambitious mid-term goals, with a new “Motion-V” plan designed to boost global vehicle sales 37 percent. Having already achieved incredible success over the past several years in North America, the Japanese automaker looks to continue that growth, forecasting a 24 percent rise in sales by 2016, up from the record 264,000 units it moved last year. During that same period, Subaru looks to triple sales in China to 180,000 units.

Other aspects of the plan include cost-cutting measures, a significant fuel economy improvement across the Subaru lineup, and the goal of being a leader in “safety performance.”

Details weren’t provided on how Subaru would reduce overall vehicle development costs, but the target is to reduce that number by 20 percent. One hint lies in the FT-86 sports car project, which was co-developed with Toyota. Subaru plans to launch this car and three others (including a hybrid) in the next five years and is looking to reduce its overall fleet fuel consumption by 30 percent.

As for safety, the Motion-V plan calls for new advancements in both active and passive safety systems.

Subaru isn’t alone in forecasting tremendous growth over the next few years. Ford recently announced plans to increase global sales by 50 percent by 2015, while the “Nissan Power 88” plan calls for that automaker to capture 8 percent of the global market by 2016, launching one new vehicle ever six weeks for the next six years.[/QUOTE]

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